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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26102305">Cramped Toyotas and Confusing Feelings</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/dumby/pseuds/dumby'>dumby</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Toyotas and Trampolines [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>High School Musical (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bi Chad Danford, Bisexual Chad Danford, Fluff, Gay, Gay Ryan Evans, In-between HSM2-HSM3, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 05:46:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,017</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26102305</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/dumby/pseuds/dumby</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryan Evans has met Chad before,  of course he has, but now he's stuck in the back of Kelsi's shitty little Toyota with him and  he's doing everything he told himself not to. At first he thought he was making a small exception - nothing wrong with liking a straight guy, right? Especially not a cute one like Chad. Now Ryan's talking to him he's realized that actually, he wants more than just a hook-up.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Chad Danforth/Ryan Evans, Kelsi Nielson/Jack Scott</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Toyotas and Trampolines [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1898080</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>159</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Cramped Toyotas and Confusing Feelings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I live in ~Australia~ (Ew I know) so there's probably a few differences between the fic and American Highschool/America in general so here are the ones I can think of:</p><p>We drive on the left - Driver sits on the right side of the car so there might be some confusion for you Americans<br/>I'm pretty sure America doesn't have the same prevalence of cheap Toyotas about so you probably don't know what a Toyota Starlet looks like, or what it's like inside one - sucks to be you I guess.<br/>American holidays confuse me - Don't think too hard about it<br/>I live in Australia so I don't know what cold is - Is 15 degrees cold? Kiwis please answer. </p><p>I also haven't watched HSM 2 since like 2017 so this is probably VERY out of character but y'know what Disney making Ryan straight was out of character so whatever fuck disney.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chad opened the passenger-side door, and fiddled with the side of the seat. </p><p> </p><p>“Uh, how are we gonna get in- oh.” Ryan watched as Chad pulled a lever and the seat loosened. </p><p> </p><p>He pushed the seat forward, and clambered over the seat into the back. Ryan followed suit, and crashed into the thinning cushion. The cheap plastic coating the back of the seats was peeling, and the driver’s seat was so aged Kelsi had to place a furry cover over the seat. Ryan remembered when she’d taken him shopping for that cover. It was the first time he’d ever spoken to Chad. His girlfriend at the time managed to drag him away to thrift through a two-dollar store, but they’d talked enough for Ryan to… <em> Well. Feelings were caught. </em> His girlfriend was nice enough; maybe they’d be friends in some other world, but Ryan couldn’t help but be envious. </p><p> </p><p>Ryan pulled the passenger seat back, and Jack and Kelsi stepped into the front seats. The car was a tiny red 1980’s Toyota - frankly, it was a miracle her boyfriend Jack could fit in the front seat, yet alone cram the two boys in the back. Ryan wasn’t gonna complain though, because although manspreading around Jack’s reclined seat was uncomfortable as all hell, it meant bumping his knee against Chad’s, which was definitely a plus. He laughed a little at his own desperation. </p><p> </p><p>“What’s so funny?” Ryan could barely hear Chad over the rattling of the Starlet’s windows. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh, nothing.” He turned to face Chad and waved him away. He turned back to the window, finding he’d shifted his shirt enough to make it pinch and scratch. </p><p> </p><p>With a groan, Ryan wriggled into the chair. “Goddamn it Chad, I was comfortable.” Now pulled completely from his daydreaming state, he instinctively stretched upwards, his long arms slamming into the felted ceiling with a small grunt of inconvenience. Chad let out a snort. Ryan glared at him for a second, but the grin didn’t disappear. </p><p> </p><p><em> Fuck it. </em>Ryan thought. He pushed his hands into Chad’s face, pulling the finger with both. Chad grabbed his wrists and pushed him away. “Fuck off, Evans.” He smirked as he said Ryan’s surname. </p><p> </p><p>Ryan eased off, then scrounged through the junk hidden under the seat in front of him, his fingers settled on a plastic bottle of sorts, and he pulled it out. In a flash, he tossed it at Chad’s head. It pinged off with a dull pink, and spiralled towards Ryan - <em> THUNK! </em> </p><p> </p><p>“Ow! Fuck!” He cried. Chad shook the cheap car seats with hysteric laughter. Tears poured out both their eyes. Kelsi, who watched the whole thing through the rear view mirror, collapsed over the steering wheel clutching her side. Jack turned to face the two, a clear look of confusion on his face. </p><p> </p><p>Chad, of course, took the opportunity to embarrass Ryan, even when struggling to talk. “He- He-”</p><p> </p><p>“Shut up!” Ryan smacked him over the head, his eye bloodshot and tears running down his face.</p><p> </p><p>Chad refused, and kept talking, now fending off Ryan’s attacks. “He threw the water bottle at me and it bounced back and clocked him!” </p><p> </p><p>Jack chuckled, and Ryan, flushed in shame, opened his mouth to retort, before deciding to cut his losses and let it go. The two belligerents settled into an easy silence, returning to their thoughts. Jack noticed a road sign bearing his last name, and started a low-interest conversation with Kelsi, to keep her awake while on the road. </p><p> </p><p>They drifted back to their seats, then back to their own thoughts. Ryan heard Chad plug in his earphones and let out a sigh. Ryan thought of the small smile Chad had given him when he approached the three after fetching snacks from the car. <em> He smiled because you offered him corn chips, not because he likes you. </em> But god, a boy could dream, right? Then even before that, there was the comment at that party. <em> ‘How do you not have a girlfriend, man?’ </em> . Somehow, Chad managed to look past the tucked-in shirts, hats, rumours, rolled up pants and goddamn <em> red converse with the laces tied around the ankle in order to assume he was straight. </em> Was it because straight people don’t even know red converse exist? </p><p> </p><p>Then Ryan thought of that summer. God, that damn baseball game. <em> And no, contrary to popular belief, they did not hook up afterwards. </em> But Jesus, Ryan kind of wished they had. The thought brought a blush to his face. He didn’t bother hiding it, it wasn’t like anyone was looking. They’d got changed, talked about school, actually. They swapped shirts accidentally, and once they’d realised, they decided they couldn’t be bothered changing out of them. <em> Big mistake. </em> They were topic of the week for two weeks, Chad was constantly being questioned over it, and Ryan didn’t get to see Chad undress again. <em> Tragic. </em> Ryan smirked. God he wished Chad liked him. </p><p> </p><p>His thoughts drifted to the start of their ‘fight’. <em> Why was Chad looking at him? </em> Was he- Did he?- <em> No. No way. </em> He couldn’t get it off his mind. The gears in his head shifted, and he thought up a plan, briefly pausing to tell himself how stupid it was. He glanced at Chad, propped up against the window, drifting into his music. They made eye contact, and shared a brief smile of acknowledgement. <em> God, Ryan, there’s no way. It didn’t matter. </em> He told himself. <em> You’ll get over him in a week. </em></p><p> </p><p>He rummaged under Jack’s seat again, then reached over to the car’s boot, pretending to search for something. With a final brief pause to ready himself, he unbuckled his seat belt and shifted towards the driver’s side of the car. He reached a hand under the seat, awkwardly pressing his head into Chad’s leg, and searched, pulling out a suncream bottle, feigning his best look of disappointment in case Chad was looking. </p><p> </p><p><em> This was Ryan’s make-or-break moment. </em> “Kelsi, do you have like Voltaren or anything in here?” </p><p> </p><p>“No.” She replied, plainly, briefly glancing up at the rear view mirror to frown in confusion at him.</p><p> </p><p>“What’s wrong, Ryan?” <em> Gotcha. </em>Chad was mildly concerned, and he even dropped the surname. </p><p> </p><p>“Sore back. Sore everything, to be honest.” He chuckled, more out of elation that his suspicions were so far turning out to be true than some sense of morbid humour. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh, dude, turn around, I’ll unfuck it.” Chad offered, already shifting to massage him. Ryan shuffled around to face the same way as Chad, and let him start without any protest. </p><p> </p><p>His hands were warm, and strong. They pressed right into the sore spots of his back, ‘knots’, Chad called them. Ryan might have mocked such weird terminology, if it didn’t fit so well. Ryan’s pains were coming undone under Chad’s careful hands, and <em> where did he learn to do this shit? </em> Chad, unknowingly, was also undoing the several locks around Ryan’s thoughts- God, was he actually getting feelings for this guy? <em> Damnit, Ryan, you’re supposed to fuck straight guys, not develop romantic feelings for them. </em>Chad’s hand moved directly to his neck, and started pressing. Ryan let out a hiss of relief and a small giggle.</p><p> </p><p>“Can you do my lower back?” He asked, forgetting all pretence of some plan. </p><p> </p><p>It seemed like Chad wasn’t obliging, and just as Ryan opened his mouth to ask again- Chad’s thumbs jutted into his back, and Ryan’s eyes flashed. <em> Oh, god! </em>The hands faltered slightly, and Ryan heard Chad’s breathing hitch. </p><p> </p><p>Kelsi chuckled. “If I look at the mirror you’re still gonna be clothed, right?” Ryan opened his eyes to see Jack and Kelsi sharing a devious look. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh fuck!” He felt his blood rush to his cheeks. “No! Kelsi. Not at all- not what’s happening here.” Chad laughed at his embarrassment. There was a pause as the two in front stared at each other, working something out. Ryan’s mouth hung agape as the realisation of the <em> noise </em> he’d just made processed through his mind. He huffed, trying and almost certainly failing to hide his shame under humour. </p><p> </p><p>Kelsi switched the AC to as cool as it could get, and Jack opened the grills to point to the middle of the car. “Phew, I’m getting hot.” She lied. <em> It was 15° outside, and blustery on the open plains.  </em></p><p> </p><p><em> Fuck’s sake. </em> A smile flashed across Ryan’s face. <em> Was Kelsi really wing-womaning him? </em> He wasn’t going to complain. </p><p> </p><p>“No it’s not!” Ryan and Chad complained, half-heartedly.</p><p> </p><p>“My car, my rules.” She said. “Fucking huddle up if you’re that cold.” Maybe some practice in subtlety could help. </p><p> </p><p>Ryan struggled to move. <em> Shit! </em> He was out of his depth now. <em> He wanted to, but what could he do, ask Chad to snuggle? </em> He turned to face him, to see what Chad thought, bracing himself for more embarrassment. Chad shrugged, and leaned forward, his arms swooping under Ryan’s, then dragging him backwards into his chest. Ryan’s heart pounded, and he struggled not to squeal from it all. Chad’s chest rose into him, then fell. It seemed he was struggling, too. <em> Shit. </em> Did this mean? Huh? Ryan dismissed his panicking mind, placing his interpretation of things down to gay panic™. He really needed to get better at improvising, because clearly, nothing in his life ever went to plan. </p><p> </p><p>His heart settled, and Ryan tentatively shuffled into Chad, whose arms still remained wrapped around his. Chad’s chest shifted, and Ryan felt air crawl down his neck as Chad whispered to him. <em> God.  </em></p><p> </p><p>“You liked that massage a little too much, didn’t you?” He said. His smirk could practically be heard. Chad wasn’t going to say anything cruel, but Ryan knew how these things went. Chad had <em> those </em> types of friends, and God help him this would end up as the only thing anyone was going to talk about for like, a week. He couldn’t entertain the thought that Chad might like him anymore, <em> he needed out!  </em></p><p> </p><p>Ryan stammered, before silencing himself. His mind raced to think of an answer, but Chad shifted backwards. <em> Shit! Shit shit shit shit! </em> Chad’s left arm let go of his side, and Ryan feared the worst. But then it drifted downward, across his stomach, <em> oh Jesus, </em> and onto his thigh. The thumb trailed behind, and came to a rest on the inside of his thigh- <em> Ryan’s breath was obviously short. Fuck! </em> Ryan couldn’t see his face, but he knew Chad currently had a shit-eating grin plastered over it. <em> What the hell was he playing at? </em> </p><p> </p><p>Ryan stiffened, utterly unsure of what to do. Either Chad was actually <em> into this </em> or he was fucking with him. He considered his options again- Chad had already more than embarrassed him, there was no salvaging this - <em> or </em>- Chad shifted, moving his hand away from Ryan’s thigh. </p><p> </p><p>“Sorry.” Chad was unusually quiet. <em> He thought he’d fucked up. </em> Ryan panicked again. Any second now, Chad would kick him off, and spend the rest of high school thinking he’d pushed him too far. <em> Hell no. </em>Ryan wasn’t going to let this go, even if he made a fool of himself. </p><p> </p><p>Ryan turned, shifting so he lay facing Chad, and half-clambered up him, shifting his weight over, well- he grabbed Chad’s shoulder. <em> This wasn’t as smooth as planned. </em> They were face to face now. He could see it in Chad’s eyes, the small panic, the desperation, the <em> want. </em> He hadn’t expected Chad of all people to like guys, but he was here now, so <em> fuck it. </em>Ryan tried his best to keep his face neutral, make Chad uneasy, for the thrill of it, Ryan guessed. He shifted forwards and- </p><p> </p><p>brought his mouth to Chad’s ear. </p><p> </p><p>“Let’s not forget that either you were lucky enough to glance at me when I smiled, or you’ve been staring at me the whole car ride.” Ryan pulled away. It was Chad’s turn to be embarrassed, and he played the part well, a light red showing through his gorgeous dark skin. It seemed out of place on such a masculine, sporty guy. </p><p><br/>Ryan had made Chad blush, <em> and he loved it. </em></p>
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